Bangkok--7 Nov--Manulife Asset Management
Manulife Asset Management (Thailand) Co. Ltd. today announced that its Manulife Strength - Asian Small Cap Equity FIF (‘MS-ASIAN SM’) has significantly outperformed its benchmark since inception. MS-ASIAN SM delivered cumulative return of 18.55% in the nine months since its launch1 whilst the benchmark MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan Small Cap Index returned just -0.91% in the same period (data as of 26 October 2012).
MS-ASIAN SM is a feeder fund that invests in a ‘master fund’: the Manulife Global Fund - Asian Small Cap Equity Fund (Share Class I). The master fund employs a bottom-up approach to select small-cap equities in the Asia-Pacific region. The master fund aims to make early stage investments in profitable small companies that have identifiable market niches or leadership positions and have the potential for higher growth.
Tor Indhavivadha, CEO of Manulife Asset Management (Thailand), commented: “The Manulife Strength - Asian Small Cap Equity FIF has delivered exceptional returns to unit holders since inception. This strong performance is driven by a seasoned investment team which excels at picking up stocks with good potential at relatively cheap valuation levels ahead of the wider investment community and then riding a re-rating wave as their potential is recognised. This strategy is made possible by our network of in-house equity portfolio managers and analysts across 10 markets in Asia, where the local teams help identify ‘hidden gems’ among under-researched stocks.”
A number of key holdings in the master fund are up more than 50% so far this year on the back of strong corporate earnings that in many cases exceeded expectations. Looking ahead, the investment team believes that many stocks in Hong Kong, China and Korea continue to offer attractive upside potential as they remain undervalued, trading at single-digit P/Es (price-to-earnings ratios) despite projected EPS (earnings per share) growth in excess of 20% per annum for the next couple of years. The master fund’s P/E is currently about 11 times versus about 13 times for the benchmark index.
Tor added: “Although market sentiment had been shaky over the past three to six months, impacted primarily by uncertainty and mixed news flow coming from developed markets, the Manulife Strength - Asian Small Cap Equity FIF has posted six-month returns of 13.56% versus the benchmark’s -2.16%. We believe that this product is an attractive investment option for investors, as performance is influenced less by macroeconomic factors and more by our investment team’s skills and experience in picking stocks to include in the portfolio. This enables us to target performance superior to the broad market.”
For more information on the Manulife Strength - Asian Small Cap Equity FIF, please call Manulife Asset Management (Thailand) at 02-354-1001 or contact one of our sales agents.